South Korea: honour your international commitments

As the G20 gathers in Seoul on November 11 and 12, Public Services International and other global unions  are calling on the South Korean government to honour its international commitments and respect workers' rights.

When South Korea took a seat at the international global table for economic development in 1996, it made a commitment to reform its labour laws and meet international standards on workers' rights. Fourteen years later, Korean laws still do not comply with international standards on protecting workers' rights and Korea is one of the worst countries in the world for the repression of its workers, trade unions and people.

The laws in South Korea are used by the government and employers to routinely:

• Jail trade unionists for exercising their rights
• Stop subcontracted workers from joining a union or bargaining collectively
• Prevent many public sector workers from joining a union or bargaining collectively

PSI has been working with the International Metalworkers' Federation and other global unions to produce a series of campaign resources, including posters, stickers, leaflets and a government briefing note all available for downloading and printing here.

PSI affiliate unions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US are invited to contact their governments participating in the G20. A government briefing note can be downloaded here.

Please send copies of any correspondence, to rights@world-psi.org.

PSI's campaign letter of 27 October, 2010 can be downloaded here.

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